Johnny Deeper: A Sports Romance (7 page)

She fights her smile. “John, come on. Don’t play dumb.”

“I’m not.”

“You have a natural gift,” she argues. “And, if you ask me, you’re wasting your time pretending to be someone you’re not just to get attention from girls.”

I sit back, shaking off the twinging nerve. “Girls don’t bother with nerds.”

“Any girl that would reject you because of your intelligence isn’t worth the effort.”

“I beg to differ,” I laugh. “In my experience, the fun ones care way more about brawn over brains.”

“Is that all you care about?” she asks. “What tomorrow’s one-night stand thinks about your washboard abs?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to be a big, dumb jock to get laid, John. You should just be yourself.”

I laugh even harder, though I don’t mean to. This entire thing has completely derailed from what I planned. Might as well check out and move on now. Rose Hawthorne is officially off the table.

I pull my backpack off the floor as I stand. “Yeah, maybe I’ll try reciting the Periodic Table at the next party I go to; see how many pairs of panties get tossed my way.”

Rose furrows her brow and shakes her head as I step towards the door. “That’s a real shame,” she says, “because there are plenty of girls out there that would be interested in a guy like that.”

I pause in the doorway, sensing opportunity. “Like who?”

“Like…” She hesitates and looks down, hiding the blood in her face again. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.”

“Like
who
, Ms. Hawthorne?”

“I hope you found this helpful,” she says. “I’ll see you in class.”

I grab the door and push it closed, making her jump in her chair. “Stand up,” I tell her.

Her chest heaves beneath her cardigan.

“I said,
stand up
.”

“John…” She takes a deep, calming breath. “I think the two of us need to establish a few boundaries here—”

I take a wide step towards the desk and she jumps out of her chair.

“John,
stop
.”

“Why?” I ask. “You obviously don’t want me to.”

“That’s not true,” she says, her voice breaking. “Even if it were, what you’re doing is very inappropriate.”

I take another step around the desk. “I know.”

She moves in the opposite direction. “If you know, then you should stop.”

“No.”

We circle the desk, staying on opposite ends the whole time we move.

Her eyes shift towards the closed door. “Please don’t do this here.”

I raise a brow. “Do what exactly?”

“Whatever it is you’re trying to do right now.”

“I’d be happy to meet up with you somewhere else,” I smirk.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“But that’s what you
said,
” I argue, spinning in the other direction. She jolts to the side, caught off guard by the quick change in momentum. “You said, don’t do this
here
.”

“You know what I meant, John. Don’t twist my words. I am a TA. You are my student.
This can’t happen.
”

“
What
can’t happen?” I ask.
“Be specific.”

She exhales a frustrated sigh and stops dead in her tracks. “This is ridiculous. John, leave.
Now.
”

I walk up to her and she doesn’t budge, unless you count her shaking fingertips as I move in closer. “It sounds a lot like you’re trying to convince yourself more than me, Ms. Hawthorne…” She trembles, her eyes full of reluctant desire. “I want you to say it. I want you to tell me, in very specific detail, what you and I
can’t
do.”

She rolls her eyes at me but they quickly freeze in her skull as I lay a finger beneath her chin. “Don’t do that…” she says, her voice weak and not nearly as protesting as she wants it to be.

I lean in closer, letting my breath slide over her cheek as I whisper in her ear. “We’re not allowed to touch each other, right?” She twitches as my fingers glide down her neck. “I’m not allowed to do this…”

“John…”
She lets out a sigh as I cup her breast.

I smile, feeling her nipple poking hard against my palm, even with the thick cardigan between our skin. “I’m not allowed to tell you that I sit in class with a
huge
erection. I’m not allowed to tell you that I’ve thought about fucking you over that desk a thousand times since I first saw you…”

Her eyes flutter closed and I graze my lips against her cheek, inching closer to her mouth. I feel her fighting her instincts, fixing her neck in place to keep from leaning into the kiss and it fires even more blood towards my groin.

“And you’re not allowed to admit…” I move my hands down her body, reaching around her to find her sweet, perfect ass, “that
you
want it as badly as I do.”

She inhales a sharp breath.

“Go ahead, Ms. Hawthorne…” I linger in front of her lips. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you don’t want me to kiss you right now. Tell me you don’t want to come all over my cock. Tell me you’ve
never
thought about giving in to this
just once
.”

“I…” She bites her lip.

“You’re my
obsession
, Rose,” I whisper, leaning down to grip the bottom of her skirt. I scratch softly up her thigh and raise it to her waist.

“John…” she breathes.

“I can’t think about anything other than that sweet, tight pussy—”

“John.”
She grabs my probing hands and opens her big eyes, taking a moment to curb the lust in her.
“Not here.”

“Then
where
?” I ask, our lips barely touching.

She hesitates, falling to pieces in my hands. “My apartment.”

I smile. “Now?”

“Yes.”

I crush my lips on hers and she kisses me back, moaning softly as my tongue overwhelms hers. She releases my hands and I move one between her wicked thighs, feeling her entire body grow tense as slide my fingers along her sensitive skin.

“Wait, no…” She turns away and sighs. “I have to stay here. Office hours.”

“Skip them,” I urge, kissing her neck.

She chuckles. “I can’t.
Some
people might actually need help.”

I pull her back to me, unable to control myself as I kiss her again. She wraps her hands around my waist, clinging to me as I do to her until neither of us can even breathe.

Those lips, that body, that
taste
. I’m like a fucking caveman; hell-bent on claiming this perfect creature that wandered in from the next camp over. I want to take her here and now but she’s right, we can’t do it here without someone taking notice.

Finally, she lays her palms on my chest to push me away.

“Right, yeah…” I say, wiping my mouth. “Not here.”

“You should go,” she says, pleading to me with those perfect eyes.

I bite my lip in disappointment. “Meet with me tonight, Rose.”

Her chest heaves with a deep hesitation.

“Please,”
I say, staring back. “No one will ever know.”

“John, I…”

I see the rational thinking run over her eyes. Her conscience is getting the best of her but I’m so close to nabbing this piece of my
trifecta
. I can’t let it go so easily.

“How about I just stop by later?” I suggest. “No expectations, no pressure. I won’t even try anything.”

She raises a brow. “Then, what’s the point of you coming over?”

“Okay, how about this?” I smile. “Tonight, I’m coming over to your place at eight. I’ll knock twice on the door. If you don’t answer, I’ll leave and we’ll pretend like none of this ever happened. I won’t say a word. But if you answer, then…”

She doesn’t know it, but she leans forward slightly. “Then, what?”

I look down her body, from her pretty head down to her pointed shoes. “Well, let’s just say that you
really
want to answer that door.”

Her lips press together as I reach into my pocket for my phone. I swipe open the contact book and hold it out to her. She stares at it for a moment, the wheels spinning in her head, until she finally takes it from me and taps out her number and address.

“Okay,” she says.

I drop my phone back into my pocket and grab my backpack off the floor by the door. “Have a good day, Ms. Hawthorne,” I smirk. “This has been
very
helpful.”

She says nothing as I step out into the hall. My lips buzz so badly, I bite down on them to feel the pain instead but even that just revs me up a little more.

Rose Hawthorne.
She tastes even better than I thought she would. Her skin is softer. Her scent more satisfying. Just one lap of her pussy must be like drinking from the holy grail itself.

My cock throbs, just begging to feel her but I resist the urge to jerk myself off. A few cold showers might be necessary between now and eight o’clock tonight but they’d be worth it.

If she answers the door, that is.

Who am I kidding?

Of course, she will.

Chapter 10

Rose

I won’t answer the door.

I don’t bother calling Daisy for a second opinion because I know exactly what she’ll say. She’ll tell me to go for it and to enjoy myself and to call her afterward to tell me how it went. The last thing I need right now is a cheerleader shouting my name as one of the best halfbacks in college football charges right into my end zone.

Dammit
. Now she has me saying it.

No, what I need right now is a decent book, maybe a hot bath and a glass of wine, and a good night’s sleep — hopefully, dreamless. I can pretty much guarantee that John Kirby’s wicked tongue will make an appearance in my nighttime fantasies at least once. I could feel it on me all day; that strong flick he did against my neck, traveling up to my earlobe and back. I haven’t been able to stop trembling since he left the office. I’m still walking on jelly-filled knees around my apartment but that’s nothing a little hands-on solo therapy won’t take care of.

Or I can just answer the door.

No one will ever know.

I hate how right he was. I have thought about giving in
just once
. What harm would that be, really?
Just once
. And maybe Daisy’s right, too. Just one, casual hook-up might do me some good.

It’s not like everyone follows the rules anyway. Dr. Zach was definitely a little too close to that girl at the football game. Maybe ethical guidelines really are just
guidelines
and not strict rules. I won’t lose my job over just one infraction. That’d be ridiculous.

Dammit
. I need to stop thinking about this and run that bath.

The first knock hits my door and I freeze, my eyes instantly turning towards my clock.
How is it eight already?
Have I really been pacing through my living room for two hours?

Man, I
am
wound tighter than a monkey’s butthole.

I move silently towards the door and squint to peek through the peephole.

Fuck, he’s gorgeous.

He definitely cleaned up. Even with the distorted view, I can tell he styled his hair before coming over. He shaved, too.

His eyes flick knowingly towards the peephole and I jolt back as he smirks.

Don’t answer the door, Rose.

I hold my breath but that just makes the throbbing worse. My skin heats up and my cheeks burn. The air is so warm and suffocating, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to breathe if I tried. The room feels smaller; the walls shrinking in on me. Just one poke and it’ll all disappear and I’ll breathe free again, kind of like…

A bubble.

The second knock rings in my ears.

I live in a safety bubble. Opportunities come and go all the time, each one hanging just a little too far off the edge for me to risk reaching out and grabbing it. I don’t want to fall. I don’t want to fail. But I don’t want to look back and say I never tried, either.

Just once.

I peek through the hole again.

The hall is empty. He’s gone.

My chest sinks. I slide the lock and throw the door open to try and catch him before he’s gone for good.

I take one short step out and stop, my breath catching in my throat.

John stands there, smiling wide, leaning casually against the wall beside the door waiting for me.

I cross my arms in annoyance. “How did you know I’d do that?”

He says nothing. He just pushes off the wall and lays a soft hand on my cheek as he gazes down at me. I move back, leading him inside and his eyes stay on me the whole time. He closes the door behind us and presses me against it, leaning in close enough to brush his lips against mine.

I give in to temptation and kiss him first.

His hands cup my face, then slowly descend, passing over my shoulders and down my arms to tease my fingers. I quiver as he lays them on my hips, moving up towards my breasts and I split my lips to let his tongue massage mine.

He lifts me up, cradling me as if I weighed nothing at all and the rush attacks my brain. It makes me laugh and he smiles as he carries me across the room to the couch.